Rocks to Riches The Story of Australia's National Geological Survey Rick Wilkinson

"Rocks to Riches is the story of Australia's national geological survey, which started life as the Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics, and is now known as the Australian Geological Survey Organisation (AGSO). Throughout the nineteenth century and well into the twentieth, the work of Australia's explorers, prospectors, geologists and mineral surveyors laid the foundations for our modern national economy. But it took a war, Prime Minister Ben Chifley and the foresight and drive of one man - H G (Harold) Raggatt - to begin the coordinated uncovering of Australia's vast mineral resources. From its foundation in 1946, the BMR and Raggatt shared one principal objective - to systematically compile a series of geological maps of the entire continent. How this was achieved, and who was on the ground making it happen, is a fascinating and little known story. So too is what happened next, as the BMR took on new and increasingly complex tasks in serving the national interest. Told by the people involved in the field and behind the scenes in laboratories, it is also a story of political intrigue, a struggle for survival during the recession"

English